News and Press Releases of DIW Berlin

Libra, Bitcoin & Co. – Determinants of Non-cash Payments and Alternative Money

Thu, 18 Feb 2021 01:54:00 +0200

Call for Papers: CIDER-LERN Conference 2021

Tue, 02 Feb 2021 10:43:00 +0200

Neuer Policy Brief von Climate Friendly Materials Plattform wurde veröffentlicht: Climate Contribution and its role in European industrial decarbonisation

Fri, 18 Dec 2020 10:53:00 +0200

Tomaso Duso: „Green light for Fitbit takeover by Google is regrettable“

Thu, 17 Dec 2020 05:49:00 +0200

The EU Commission has approved Google's acquisition of the fitness tracker manufacturer Fitbit. Here is a statement from competition economist Tomaso Duso, Head of the Firms and Markets Department at the German Institute for Economic Research (DIW Berlin):

The fact that EU competition regulators have approved Google's acquisition of Fitbit is regrettable and sends an extremely bad signal for competition in digital markets in Europe. The warnings of many economists, data protectionists, legal scholars, and consumer organizations have thus been thrown to the wind. They have rightly warned that the takeover could harm consumers in health insurance and medical services and increase Google's dominant position in data.

The EU does not see this danger and the preliminary arguments are unconvincing: the warning of a competitive advantage for Google in digital healthcare is dismissed because "the field of digital healthcare is still nascent in Europe and many players are active in this field." But that is the problem: this sector is only just emerging and has the potential to become huge. Even a small chance for Google to monopolize it, or at least achieve a dominant position in the field, would have justified rejecting the acquisition. And that is not the only problematic point. It is true that there are a number of conditions and obligations, among others regarding the use of data,and these, in fact, have already been deemed particularly bold by some commentators. But first, these are very difficult to monitor, and second, in such a dynamic market, they may soon be overtaken by reality.

With its not very brave decision, the EU Commission has missed a great opportunity to remain a frontrunner in enforcing competition policy in digital markets. And we will have to keep waiting for a merger by the big tech companies, almost 1,000 in the last decade, to be blocked by an antitrust authority for the first time.

Marcel Fratzscher: „ECB sends signal that interest rates are likely to stay at currently low levels for the next years“

Thu, 10 Dec 2020 03:48:00 +0200

DIW president Marcel Fratzscher comments today’s announcements by the ECB as follows:

The ECB is focusing on continuity and trust in its decision to extend its purchase program and its liquidity program, so that both are unlikely to end before 2022. The most important message is the ECB's strong intention on keeping interest rates low for an extended period of time. The ECB grants itself ample flexibility to keep interest rates low also in the most affected countries by the pandemic and prevent further divergence in the euro area.

Extending such flexibility is wise as the risks to the economy and to financial stability are still substantial. The ECB cannot rule out that some banks in the euro area might get into difficulty. This would make it even more difficult for the ECB to fulfil its mandate sufficiently in the foreseeable future.

The ECB decision is a strong signal that interest rates are likely to stay at the currently low levels for the next five years. This could further boost asset prices, including equities and real estate. Whether the ECB can achieve its objective of keeping interest rates low and supporting the economy will, however, largely depend on the support by fiscal policy, both at the national level as well as the Next-Generation-EU program. The EU and Germany will have to change and improve their fiscal rules. Also Germany will most likely not be able to meet its own, narrow debt brake in 2022.

The EU Must Break the Brexit Deadlock

Tue, 08 Dec 2020 04:29:00 +0200

Maximilian Schäfer has successfully defefended his dissertation

Thu, 26 Nov 2020 07:17:00 +0200

Sabine Zinn appointed Professor at Humboldt Universität zu Berlin

Mon, 16 Nov 2020 10:55:00 +0200

New Policy Brief from Climate Friendly Materials Plattform has been published: Carbon Contracts for Differences: their role in European industrial decarbonisation

Thu, 12 Nov 2020 04:05:00 +0200

New Policy Brief from the Climate Friendly Materials Plattform has been published: A Climate-Neutral Industry: Status of policy debate in European Member States

Thu, 12 Nov 2020 04:05:00 +0200

Caterina Forti Grazzini has successfully defended her dissertation